Batting first after winning the toss in the T20s was foolish on Afridi's part. There is always the dew factor in the sub continent and UAE, which makes batting a lot easier in the second innings, and gripping the ball a much harder task.
Pakistan's 11 out of 26 T20 wins have come batting 2nd, that's 42% of the wins.
Pak has lost 6 out of 15 T20s batting 2nd, that's 40% of the losses.
Overall loss ratio when batting 2nd is 33% only.
So to say that Pakistan are not good chasers is over generalizing the team's performance in ODIs and Tests. The fact is Pak should have bowled first, at least in the 2nd T20, knowing that SA had the conditions a lot easier when batting in the first T20.
Hafeez bowled well in both matches, Afridi should have let him finish his quota in the first T20 instead of bowling Razzaq in the closing overs. Its not the same in UAE as bowling on English seaming tracks at 78 mph. Razzaq's got a good record bowling in the powerplay, but when chasing 120s, teams are only going to use him as a punch bag.
Shahzaib Hassan should be kicked out of the team till the World Cup, and Imran Farhat till the 2015 World Cup. Personally, I'd like to see Razzaq coming one down, and Shahzaib after two down when Kamran Akmal is back. Razzq is good against fast bowlers, Shahzaib played the spinners well in the domestic tournament (he hasn't played one in T20s for ages since he gets out inside the first three overs.)
And somebody should tell Misbah he can prove his Test credentials in the Tests, no need to mess up the T20s.
Afridi hasn't still proved his leadership capabilities in the season and im not confident about him anymore.He should not continue any more and he will not lead the team in the coming world cup .A younis khan factor is required for the team. he is at least better than afridi and can lead the team in WC also im hoping for his performance in the one day series and if he do so PCB will have to consider him again.
ReplyDeleteWhat can afridi do if the team doesn't get good totals on good batting wickets? pak bowled well, but lost due to the batting failure. afridi is a lot better captain than younis, at least he handles the team better, and younis's recent record in ODIs has been poor save for the fifty in this ODI. he should be in the team as a player though, and misbah shouldn't play.
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